The Boulder Church

Primates and morality as a social phenomenon - notes

Timsy — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:48:43 +0000

Author: Timsy

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2012 1:48 pm

"Morality [is] a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate complex interactions within social groups. These behaviors relate to well-being and harm, and norms of right and wrong attach to many of them. Morality is an essentially social phenomenon [and] acts as a social glue."
-- Marc Bekoff, Wild Justice

Categories of morality, per Bekoff: cooperation, empathy, justice

Frans De Waal TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_do_animals_have_morals.html

Paper on Capuchin and cucumbers/grapes experiment: http://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/pdf_attachments/BrosnanUnequalPay.pdf

General information about primate behavior: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~phyl/anthro/

Paper - The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism: http://www.cdnresearch.net/pubs/others/trivers_1971_recip.pdf

Peter Singer on why evolution of altruism doesn't mean that altruistic behavior is necessarily selfish: http://newsstore.theage.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=age&kw=Peter+Singer&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=author&rc=10&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=SMH0203021AUH85BVALE

Book on chaos

Timsy — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:17:21 +0000

Author: Timsy

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:17 am

Thanks, Chris! I hope to read Ch. 7, but so far I just read 2 and the beginning of 3. The author seems really good.

I like his explanation of chaos: local instability and global mixing of trajectories.

As for being semi-literate in math, I think everyone is in that state. Math and logic seem to have infinite supplies of fancy-looking symbols and terms.

Events precipitating African civil unrest

Chris Burkhardt — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:50:57 +0000

Author: Chris Burkhardt

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:50 pm

And I wrote a short post about the North American unrest which these events helped to inspire: North America is Stirring.

Discussing Psychology of Religion, and Animals and Religion?

Chris Burkhardt — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:46:24 +0000

Author: Chris Burkhardt

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:46 pm

Here's a link to the dog podcast Laura mentioned (posting as a reminder to myself to listen to it sometime!):

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2010/12/13/dogs-themselves-part-1---3/

Discussion: What Prisons Do We Inhabit?

Louis.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:12:27 +0000

Author: Louis.com

Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:12 am

We will meet at my house on Saturday, March 3. We will discuss the ways in which we are imprisoned by various restraints. While I have a short list in mind, I'd like to let the group pool their ideas, and then we can discuss as many as we think profitable. Hope to see you all there, then. Email me for directions to the house if you need them. Thanks, Louis

Discussion Topic - Saturday February 4, 2012

EvanA — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:07:19 +0000

Author: EvanA

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:07 pm

We will discuss self-confidence, arrogance, humility, and self-deprecation tomorrow. We will discuss which one we think is the healthiest of the four, whether they conflict, and what each one means (some semantics, i.e.). See you all tomorrow.

Yahoo Group/Calendar

Chris Burkhardt — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:37:24 +0000

Author: Chris Burkhardt

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:37 pm

Timsy set up a yahoo group for us:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SemanticSaturdays/

We are specifically using the calendar:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SemanticSaturdays/cal

The idea is that if you want to present a topic for discussion then simply add it to the calendar on any available Saturday and we'll all show up to discuss it with you. You have to be logged into Yahoo to use the calendar, but you sign in using an existing Facebook or Google account if you already have one of those.

Jesus and Divinity

EvanA — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:31:38 +0000

Author: EvanA

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 8:31 pm

From http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Debunking_Christians/Page12.htm:

�What [the advocates of the Trilemma] are trying to prove, is this:
1. Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.
2. Jesus was neither a liar nor a lunatic.
3. Therefore, Jesus is Lord.

However, there are some HUGE problems with this.

1) First of all, these apologists do not successfully rule out the Liar or Lunatic choices. Their attempts to do so are based on shabby conjecture. One can say wise things and be honest, yet still be insane in some of their beliefs, for example. Also, just because someone is generally honest doesn�t mean that 100 percent of everything he said must be honest as well. It can even be argued that not everything Jesus said came to pass, since as mentioned in Argument # 3 he stated many times that he would return in the lifetimes of the First Century Christians, to rapture the end of the world, and he didn�t. Furthermore, the apologists do not rule out the possibility of Jesus being a great moral teacher either, since a) being crazy does not make one immoral, and b) you can lie and still preach great morals in principle (US Presidents and politicians have done that throughout history in fact).

2) Second, again there is no evidence or reason to believe that the Gospel accounts are historical facts. The term �Gospel� means �good news� and were written for an agenda. Therefore, we have no basis for assuming that what the New Testament claimed about Jesus� life and ministry ever even happened.

3) Third and most importantly, the Trilemma argument TOTALLY IGNORES a fourth and more likely explanation than the other three, which is that the Jesus of the Gospels is a legend. In fact, as mentioned earlier (in the Argument # 6 section), that fourth explanation is the official position of most secular unbiased historians and of the Jesus Seminar. But the Trilemma argument completely ignores it altogether! How convenient.�

On the Resurrection: http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/Debunking_Christians/Page11.htm

Gathering Place - 08 October 2011

Timsy — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 07:22:22 +0000

Author: Timsy

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:22 am

We are meeting at the Duffy's house this evening at 6 PM. Bring some food to share if you'd like, and we will discuss the future of our group and engage in some exciting philosophical discourse.

Soup Kitchen

Tim — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:34:56 +0000

Author: Tim

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:34 pm

I want to, but we are going to be out-of-town on the 30th. Another time?

union of theology and science?

Tim — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 08:47:20 +0000

Author: Tim

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:47 am

"I accept Reality and dare not question it,
Materialism first and last imbuing.
Hurrah for positive science! long live exact demonstration!
Fetch stonecrop mixt with cedar and branches of lilac,
This is the lexicographer, this the chemist, this made a grammer of the old cartouches,
These mariners put the ship through dangerous unknown seas,
This is the geologist, this works with the scalpel, and this is a mathematician.

Gentlemen, to you the first honors always!
Your facts are useful, and yet they are not my dwelling, I but enter by them to an area of my dwelling."

- Song of Myself, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, 1855

Merry Christmas

Tim — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:54:45 +0000

Author: Tim

Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 9:54 pm

Here are links to the video's we watched at our Christmas Eve's Eve Service tonight:

Facebook/Gmail/Twitter Christmas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkHNNPM7pJA&annotation_id=annotation_485296&feature=iv

Charlie Brown:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

Silent Night Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ml_YbgJsQ

God sends his Immanuel Being...as a baby...

Matthew records that his name will be Immanuel (Hebrew), which is
translated in Greek: theos (the Supreme Divinity), meta (with), hēmōn
(our, we, us).

Merry Christmas to all,

How are we to love? What does that look like?

Tim — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 19:35:37 +0000

Author: Tim

Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 7:35 pm

In the last few weeks, we have had some important questions come up in our discussions from the book of 1 John. One was from Dennis, at our house in Lafayette. He asked, "What does John mean, that our commandment is to love one another? How does this apply in our lives today?" This is a question we've been discussing for years now on Sat nights, and I believe it is an important one for us. Perhaps more important than we could even imagine.

What came to mind recently, is a sentence Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:5, where he says "...the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Good, clean motives. A simple, honest, and genuine love flowing from ourselves to others. This is critical. For John, this was absolutely necessary for anyone to connect with the Creator.

Amazing.

John even asked follow up self-tests you could do, to see if you were loving correctly: do you hate your brother? (emphasis on actions rather than emotions); do you love the world (that which is passing away) more than God and his children?; do you practice sin? (as in, is your life characterized by sin); etc. He says, �...whoever has the world's good and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.�

A simple, honest, and genuine love flowing from ourselves to others.

In our discussions we have explored such questions as �How can anyone really know God?� Perhaps this is a key.

Being able to embrace God's love for us, as in, completely surrender to that idea...can be terribly difficult for us. But, it may just allows us to see reality more accurately.

I think we need to come to face to face with the idea of God's love for us. How we respond to this idea...is important. And this response from each of us, is probably unique. And a Creator who created us unique, I believe would be anticipating...perhaps waiting...for our own unique responses.

Much of our life experience has to do with our perspective and attitude. Most great stories have to do with a transformation of viewpoint in a main character's life. Perhaps we need a good transformation of viewpoint concerning God's love for us.

I love you guys a ton. I pray and yes, at times, shed tears for all of you. And even if we don't agree about everything, I am always going to be on your side.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is in a great battle."

Love,
Tim

Lafayette Gathering Tonight

Tim — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 11:55:37 +0000

Author: Tim

Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:55 am

We're going to be reading and discussing the Book of 1 John tonight. Remember, nothing is required, but to get more out of the conversation, you may find it beneficial to you to read the Book beforehand. Here is a link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+1&version=MSG

If you read it today, try to forget what your concept is of God, Jesus, a meaningful life, devil, or antichrist, etc. Instead, try your best to see how John would be perceiving these ideas. I believe this practice will help us all understand what the "big picture" message is in this letter.

Thanks! Very much looking forward to tonight!